Here’s the press release from the North Carolina Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform:
Today the Special Superior Court panel ruled that the maps drawn in 2011 did not violate the North Carolina Constitution.
The court, in their decision noted that “Redistricting in North Carolina is an inherently political and intensely partisan process that results in political winners and, of course, political losers. The political party controlling the General Assembly hopes, through redistricting legislation, to apportion the citizens of North Carolina in a manner that will secure the prevailing party’s political gain for at least another decade. “
Redistricting in North Carolina is and has been for over a hundred years a partisan political process. It has always benefitted the party in power, punished the party out of power. It makes for a dysfunctional and polarized legislature and disincentives from working across the isle and in a broad, bi-partisan fashion.
It is time to change the process so that partisan politics no longer play a role in North Carolina’s redistricting. The North Carolina House of Representatives recognized this in May of 2011 with the passage of House Bill 824 which would have taken partisan politics out of redistricting beginning in 2021. With leadership from both sides of the aisle, including Speaker Thom Tillis, the bill passed the NC House by a vote of 88 to 27. House Bill 606 , which is currently in the NC House, would do the same thing.
We applaud our political leaders who are putting of the good of the people of North Carolina ahead of partisan gain and urge them to move forward and pass House Bill 606 now. We urge the people of North Carolina to let their elected leaders know that this matters to them.
The North Carolina Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform is made up of more than 40 groups and individuals. Founded in 2005, it works to increase openness and transparency in government, and therefore increase citizen confidence.
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